Rabain On Brangman’s “Reckless Accusations”
Opposition Senator Diallo Rabain has hit out at Government Senator Nalton Brangman saying he is “advised to cease from posting deceitful, erroneous or reckless accusations on social media.”
The exchange follows after Ombudsman Arlene Brock’s recent release “A Grave Error” – a report into the 2012 demolition of tombs at the Marsden Methodist Memorial Cemetery within the Tucker’s Point golf course.
Ombudsman’s Report [Link]
Ms. Brock said, “The tombstones were demolished by an agreement of Marsden First United Church [institutional inheritors of the Cemetery], Rosewood Tucker’s Point and Dr. Edward Harris, Bermuda’s premier archaeologist.
“They based the decision on an utterly false assumption that the tombs were newly built in 1992. In fact, it was only the three inch deep lids of the graves that had been replaced.
“The evidence is quite clear – had the Department just scheduled a meeting or otherwise contacted Rosewood Tucker’s Point or Marsden First United Church, the tombs would never have been destroyed.”
Ministry of Home Affairs/Department of Planning Response [Link]
In a response from the Home Affairs Ministry, the Department of Planning said it “takes issue with aspects” of the Ombudsman’s statement, saying that the “criticism levelled against the department is unwarranted.”
“Regarding the damaging actions undertaken by others, which resulted in the destruction of the tombstones, the Department of Planning and the Ministry had no role in that at all,” said a spokesperson.
“Unfortunately, the zonings of a development plan cannot prevent poor judgement and bad behaviour on the part of those determined upon a particular course of action.
“For the Ombudsman to suggest otherwise is incorrect and gives a mistaken impression to the public. The Department of Planning did not participate in, and does not condone, those actions undertaken by the third parties,” added the spokesperson.
Senator Nalton Brangman’s Comments On Social Media
In a discussion thread on Facebook, Senator Brangman made a number of comments about the matter, with one of them saying: “The crime here of destroying the graves of so many blacks in Tuckers town is a travesty and frankly the former Government and the Minister responsible then, should be held to scrutiny in the Public spotlight.
“To sit here and point the finger at the OBA or whites is wrong. Blacks were in charge when this destruction of black peoples graves occurred. There is no excuse for it.”
He also said, “The real culprit is the now Leader of the Opposition who was the Minister responsible. Let us see how much will be said by them. You have a right to complain and campaign against that which you feel is wrong and to that I agree.
“My issue here is the facts of this story. This travesty was not to blacks by whites or Portuguese in political power. It was done under the watch of the political of blacks under the PLP. That is the greatest insult of all. We continue to do ourselves our own injustices and cry foul and blame whites,” added Senator Brangman.
Senator Diallo Rabain’s Comments
Senator Rabain said, “In his haste to attack PLP Leader Marc Bean and deflect from the OBA’s failure to produce for Bermudians, Sen. Nalton Brangman has been caught in another lie.
“Were it not for the Ministry of Home Affairs press statement which confirmed that neither Mr. Bean nor his former Ministry did anything incorrect with regard to the Tucker’s Town Gravesite, and that many aspects of the Ombudsman’s report were unfortunately misguided and speculative, the Senator’s attempt at deceit might have succeeded.
“Senator Brangman has a record of being caught deceiving Bermudians and this latest episode confirms that he, like many of his OBA colleagues, simply cannot be trusted.
“Senator Brangman is advised to cease from posting deceitful, erroneous or reckless accusations on social media. It is bad enough when a member of the general public posts reckless accusations, but a member of the legislature should be held to a higher accord.
“This entire situation has been an unfortunate one, and the disrespect shown to these residents of Tucker’s Town from 1920 until now is unconscionable. For Senator Brangman to use this issue to try and achieve political points is a sad indictment on him.
“We thank the Ministry of Home Affairs for being upfront and straightforward with the facts and ensuring that this situation is not misrepresented by either the Ombudsman or Senator Brangman,” concluded Sen. Rabain.
Senator Brangman has not yet responded to our request for comment, however we will update as able.
Typical oba
Nalton rumor has it the Premier fired you as a Minister because hey you wasn’t pulling your weight, but then again my guess is you already know this. You failed as the Education Minister. Stop making yourself look stupid on black this and white that, this is why Bermuda continues to have this deep racial divide. Also stop adding to the growing cancer(race)sit down and shut up.
After re-reading the statement from Planning department, it looks like Marsden Church was strongly bend on doing what they wanted, without consultation from the people. They ignored Planning and went ahead with out proper approval.
1. The Minister of the Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy will consult with the property owner as required by the Act, the Historic Building Advisory Committee, the Department of Planning and other relevant interests. On completion of the review the Minister would have the information to assist in making a decision on the recommendation to add Tucker’s Town Cemetery to the list.”
2. The spokesperson said, “There is no cause or connection between the task of reviewing the cemetery for possible listing and the devastating event that unfolded in October 2012, which involved the destruction of headstones and partial dismantling of the perimeter wall of the cemetery.
3.“That event was a separate damaging action on the part of others, at least one of whom was fully aware of the protective zoning of the site. Unfortunately, the zonings of a development plan cannot prevent poor judgement and bad behaviour on the part of those determined upon a particular course of action.
4. For the Ombudsman to suggest otherwise is incorrect and gives a mistaken impression to the public. The Department of Planning did not participate in, and does not condone, those actions undertaken by the third parties.” (third party is Marsden church)
5. The spokesperson concluded, “We brought to the attention of the Ombudsman our reservations regarding the conclusions in the report, however it appears the report is unchanged despite our clarifications.
6. It is clear that the Minister at Marsden failed to follow thru and consult with the families whose relative were buried there. Island wide consultation did not take place, and many where upset to learn later what had taken place. Many did not even know they had taken the graves up.
Moving forward I hope that a replica of the graves will be put there, and this site will be marked as a special historical spot in our history.
Mr. Brangman needs to stop with trying to score political points. He has been now pushed to the sidelines by the UBPoba and given tasks that they do not want to put their hands on. This is a serious historical site that means a great deal to the families that live there. Stop with the Political football and move forward with a statement as to what will happen next. Please tell me that the grave site will be replaced with a replica of the old stones. That would be big of you. Please tell me the next step to ensure that our history is made of some great value.
Why don’t we hear from Marc Bean himself. After all, he was the Environment minister at the time. Is Marc too busy consulting with Furbert on the next “meeting”?
Marc Bean addressed both Ms Brock and Senator Brangman on ZBM news. Keep up.
We did
the SDO was granted by whom? did the SDO specifically mention the importance of the grave-site that must remain intact and off limits for development? why did’t the SDO insist on this? Instead the ministry and govt showed indifference to the situation. So much for Bob Marley and Peter Tosh quotes. Yup,Transparency at its best. I prefer Johnny Nash “I can see clearly now”…..no money in it, no value in it….shameful.
I agree that elected officials should refrain from making useless and divisive comments on social media.
I mean Mr. Rabain and the PLP must’ve been outraged by his leaders comments on FB insinuating that Min. Dunkley is part of a certain operation in BDA. You know the statement which required Min. Dunkley to issue a writ against Mr. Bean? Mr. Rabain is that also considered to be ‘reckless accusations’ from your point of view?
By the way who issued the SDO for T. Point a few years back and who protested against it? As I get older my memory gets worse.
It’s ok when the PLP do it man.
LOL
Once again Rabain displays his selective memory. Or is he suffering from something else?
Let’s put Nalton Brangman’s comments in context – a PLP blogger was raging mad trying to blame the OBA for the destruction of the graves even though it happened on the PLP’s watch.
I hope the OBA do the right thing and make sure the cemetery is restored an put up a memorial for the families displaced by the compulsory purchase.
The right thing to do would be to give the people back their land.
This has to do with the Graveyard. Those people are not moving and rightly so. PLP should have made sure that noone touches those gravestones…the Ombudsman was right. Sadly the PLP have turned this into something else to deflect rather than take responsibility for not doing enough.
While you’re at it, I’ll take that lovely plot opposite Clear Water Beach that belonged to my grand-father.
SMH
Diallo…WHOSE WATCH WAS IT UNDER…END OF STORY!!!Has the Department of Planning in their ultimate wisdom and authority fined anyone for this…PROBABLY NOT!???
Brangman constantly wants to make a name for himself. UNfortunately over the past year or so, this has not been in a positive light for him. Constant hiccups. He needs to be removed from Senate as to not embarrass himself or the OBA anymore.
Every time I watch Nalton on TV or listen to him speak , I cringe. Nervous about what is percolating between those empty ears! The epitome of a yes man! Shame on you Nalton! Simple as ……….! Pls remove his substance less azzzzz form the media!
Man to man are so unjust. People we dont know who to trust!!!!!!
I can’t get rid of a vision in my head of all partys in this case standing in the graveyard around a pile of gravestones pointing fingers at each other.
IMO they ALL share a degree of blame.
I had a similar vision – except that all parties where laying in the graveyard pointing fingers at each other.
This all started when Senator Brangman responded to a plp blogger on Facebook who was vehemently accusing the OBA of destroying the graves at Tuckers Point. It is a clear and undisputed fact that the Opposition leader was the Minister responsible for planning in 2012, prior to the election, when the graves were razed. The razing of the graves occurred under his watch. Those are the facts. Senator Rabain needs to take two seats.
this infantile expression by Rabain is all to commonplace and seems to be his modus operandi. yet he blasts off on a regular basis in a similar offensive manner.
this country needs to get some real politicians who are not ego strokers, fraternity socialites, cronies of various nefarious visions/motivating factors.
our politicians cut their teeth in a system that is so flawed it isn’t funny. racial/social divides will be the end to this country.
in places like Jamaica it was things like bauxite mining rights that helped destroy the economy and took their standard of living down. in Bermuda it will be immigration policy/birthright sold up the river and gaming mixed with a heaping tablespoon of institutionalized racism/cronyism………………..